ISLAMABAD: With the groundbreaking of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project set for today despite unrelenting US opposition, the diplomatic community is buzzing over which of the foreign heads of state invited to the ceremony would be turning up.
President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is hosting the ceremony, are reported to have sent invitations to eight heads of state and government.
Neither of the countries would divulge the guest list for the event being held at Gabd Zero point on the Iranian border but diplomatic sources say they include leaders from Central Asian states, Gulf Cooperation Council and Afghanistan.
According to one source, China too has been invited.
Afghanistan is so far the only country to have declined to attend the ceremony.
President Hamid Karzai’s regrets, a diplomatic source said, had more to do with renewed tensions with Pakistan than his US connection.
The Afghan president does not have the best of relations with Iran either.
The confirmations received by the Iranian government till yesterday, according to a foreign ministry official, were from Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
internews
